The Best Method of Pickling Watermelon
Pickled veggies are my thing – I bloody love em. At first, when my wife saw me pickling a whole load of onions she was like “what are you playing at?”. But now that she has tasted them and used them on burgers or sandwiches she sees exactly why I pickled them in the first place. As time has gone on there have been many other items in the fridge that I pickled but storage was always a bit of an issue! The beautiful and functional Kilner jars are perfect for all my pickling needs. They fit perfectly on any shelf and come in multiple sizes so you can choose the one that holds just the right amount.
My latest pickling item is watermelon rind. It’s something I tried ages ago. It was pretty good but needed a little tweaking. Now, it’s safe to say (at least in my eyes) I’ve nailed it!
We eat a ton of watermelon in the house – my daughter munches on cubes of it, eats it in the form of an ice pop when I blend it up with mint & lime. The “boss” will take a giant tub to work and me, well I’m left with the rind. Lucky me!! Using what little brainpower I have left I figured let’s try pickling the rind. After all, I can’t plant it in our concrete patio to grow a new melon so the alternative was to just chuck it in the bin.
So, I grabbed my potato peeler and went to town on the rind. I used a basic pickling liquid of salt, sugar, vinegar and water. After rummaging through the fridge/cupboard to see what else would pair well I created this delish spicy pickled watermelon. Check out the recipe below. I hope you like it and enjoy making it in the process too. Just remember – when you are looking for the perfect storage jars for said watermelon look no further then Everten and Kilner. A match made in heaven!
Ingredients:
- Watermelon rind x 300g
- Jalapeno x 4 slices
- Lemon rind x 4 slices
- Ginger x 1” piece sliced
- Szechuan peppercorns x 1 tsp
- Sugar x 6 tbsp
- Salt x 2 tbsp
- Water x 200ml
- White vinegar x 200ml
Essential Tools:
- Kilner Jars
- Chefs knives
- Chopping Board
- Medium Saucepan
- Measuring Utensils
- Wooden spoon
Method
- Using a potato/vegetable peeler peel the rind away from the watermelon (once you have enjoyed the juicy fruit first!). Set aside
- In a medium-sized saucepan add all the ingredients EXCEPT the watermelon and bring to the boil. Stirring until sugar/salt has dissolved.
- Remove from heat, add watermelon, stir gently and leave to cool.
- Once cooled store in Kilner jars in the fridge. Pickled watermelon will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
Uses for Pickled Watermelon
- Fried chicken sandwiches
- Grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce and a lime & black pepper mayo
- Mixed in with a salad to add a little zing and freshness too
- Serve it with crispy pork belly
Tips/Tricks
- When peeling the watermelon I found it easiest to cut the watermelon rind into smaller wedges about the width of your veggie peeler – this way you can get longer more even strips
- If you want to tone down the spice level of the pickled watermelon then omit the jalapenos
